Shinra Inc And Revenge
by Jason Tandro
Summary: S2E8- Rufus gets mugged, and we learn something about how he copes with his need for payback.


Shinra Inc. And Revenge

By: Jason Tandro

The sun was shining, birds were singing and the airy 60 degree weather and sunny skies were inviting all the enjoy their warmth and beauty. Spring had arrived.

Rufus was so overjoyed, he skipped home at 2:30 PM, with not a care in the world. He called it a half-day and let everybody take the last couple of hours off. Reno, Rude and Elena sat on the 38th floor patio, sharing a pizza and discussing anything but work.

Scarlet and Heidegger stopped tag-teaming a new thermonuclear weapon to go strolling through the tower grounds. Reeve and Tseng sat at the 70th Floor helipad, looking out at the city of Midgar. Even Hojo was celebrating the fine weather by opening the usually locked down metal curtains of his laboratory.

"I love this!" Rufus smiled as he walked down the road of Sector 8. "I'll take in a show and then go play some frizbee golf!"

Rufus went the Goblin Bar for a light lunch, went across the street to see Loveless, for something like the 23rd time in his life, and then as the sun began to set around 6:45 PM he made his way through Sector 8 to the fountain plaza, where four young men were passing a disc around. Rufus caught it and sent it sailing high over the fountain, skirting expertly off the surface of the water.

It was probably one of the best days of Rufus's life. The streets of Midgar were dark now, the beautiful day fading into a calm and clear night. The streetlamps flickered on and Rufus began heading towards the tower.

---

"What happened, Rufus?" Reeve asked in horror as Rufus showed up to work the next morning with a bleeding lip and a brilliant shiner on his right eye. "Are you alright?"

"I was mugged last night," Rufus cursed, as he sat down at his desk.

He wasn't wearing his usual white trench coat. Today he was sporting a military uniform, complete with flak vest, and rifle at his side.

"You were attacked?!" Reeve demanded. "By who?"

"I don't know," Rufus grunted.

"What happened?"

"Well, I was walking into the tower. I was waiting for the doors to open, when somebody came behind me with a gun. I raised my hands and he knocked me to the ground, slammed me against it, took my wallet and ran off," Rufus explained, with unusual calm.

Reeve pulled his walkie-talkie out of his hip holster. "Tseng, get the Turks up here in the office now."

"Right away, Reeve," Tseng replied amid the static.

"Are you hurt? How are you feeling? What's with the uniform?" Reeve asked.

"I'm okay now. I'm fine," Rufus nodded. And indeed, he looked fine. Except for a slight coldness in his eyes, he did look perfectly calm.

"It's natural to be upset," Reeve explained sympathetically. "It's a terrible thing to happen to anybody."

"No no," Rufus shook his hands in protest. "I'm fine."

Tseng, Rude, Reno and Elena rushed upstairs.

"Sir, what is it?" Tseng asked.

"It's really okay guys," Rufus sighed.

"He was mugged last night. Just outside the Shinra Tower," Reeve explained.

Tseng nodded and turned to his staff. "Rude, pull the surveillance tapes from last night and go over them with Marcus. Reno do a sweep of the perimeter and look for any stores that have had transactions using Rufus's cards since midnight. Elena inform all off duty security staff that they are back on duty."

The three rushed down the stairs to do their jobs. Tseng approached Rufus.

"We'll need a description of the man," Tseng explained.

"I don't know what he looked like. I was busy not turning my head around so I didn't get a bullet in it," Rufus sighed.

"That's fine. We'll get a description from the video surveillance," Tseng nodded.

"When we find him…" Rufus began.

"He will be incarcerated for a very long time," Reeve nodded. "Assault and robbery, plus attempted murder… and the fact that it's you. He'll probably get life in prison."

"No… I want to have a more appropriate revenge," Rufus said.

"We could execute him. If anybody asks we'll just say he was resisting arrest," Tseng suggested.

Rufus shook his head. "No, no, no."

Rufus sighed deeply and started pacing around his desk.

"You have all forgotten what revenge is truly about. It's not about causing pain. It's not about showing how big and powerful you are. It's about restoring the natural balance, and having the punishment fit the crime," Rufus began. "Why I remember some of the greatest instances of revenge right in this very tower."

_It was almost two years ago. AVALANCHE had just broken out of the jail, and everything was going to pot. My father was dead, thanks to Sephiroth and things had been pretty chaotic._

_Well I had just been made the President of the Shinra Electric Power Corporation, and some of the guys weren't too thrilled about that. So they decided that they were gonna haze me. What began as a simple joke, turned into a chaotic circle of revenge._

_First, Hojo put a tack on my chair. Fairly jejune, and easily thwarted. He puts a tack on my chair, so I cut his funding by 50%. Balance restored._

_Then Palmer burst in on me in the company sauna, so I told him the space program was going to remain cancelled._

_Heidegger super glued all my files together, so I disable the elevator for a week and make his fat ass huff it up those stairs every day._

_You see? It's all about balance?_

"Um, sir, that has absolutely nothing to do with anything." Reeve said.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty confident that those instances didn't so much restore order as make you laugh," Tseng said.

"We got him!" Reno said, dragging in a man wearing a beanie and a dark jacket.

"That was quick," Tseng gaped in astonishment.

"It wasn't hard. He was hitting on the secretary downstairs, pretending to be the president. I believe his exact words were 'take off your shirt and I'll give you a raise'," Reno said, his face contorted in disgust.

"And what did you say?" Reeve asked.

"I said, 'right on Mr. President,' but she wouldn't do it, so I brought him up here," Reno explained.

"Ah," Tseng said. "Wow, well what do you with him, Mr. President?"

Rufus grinned maliciously. "We're going to restore balance."

The man in the beanie was hanging upside down from the side of the Shinra Tower.

"Uh, dude. It's kinda hard to wash windows when I'm upside down!" He pleaded. The window wiper fell out of his hand. "Oh man I dropped it!"

"Lower the rope," Rufus smiled.

The tether holding the rope in place loosened and fell into a freefall. A loud scream was heard followed by a tug as the wire locked into place.

"Okay, what is this accomplishing?" Reeve asked.

"Oh nothing. But it sure is fun," Rufus laughed evilly.

"I knew that restoring balance thing was bullshit," Reeve sighed.

"Okay, here comes the second bucket of boiling chicken grease!" Rufus shouted, tipping a full bucket menacingly down the rope.


End file.
